A Few Photos of the Tetons in Winter

We've made three winter trips to Jackson, and Sunday was the first time we've been able to see the Tetons covered in fresh snow. On our other winter trips they were completely obscured by clouds and falling snow.



Every time I see the Tetons, I'm in awe.

A Quick Session on Sandstone

The Ice Age boulders.

Work continues on the bouldering guidebook. The sun emerged for a few hours this afternoon, and we had a short session at the Ice Age area. I was excited to return to some boulders I hadn't been to in a while, and to use our new large Organic pad.

It's nice to have some new foam, and the design looks great. Thanks Josh!

I took photos for the guide, and re-climbed some lines to figure out the grades and star ratings they deserved. The Warmup Boulder has grown back some lichen, and gotten sandy again since our last visit. It needs more traffic!

The Mammoth boulder was just as good as I remembered.

I managed to climb "Il Mammut" the proper way, by stabbing two fingers into the Mammoth's eye like Davin did on the first ascent. The pocket is deeper than I ever expected it to be. It requires perfect aim, but it's really fun to catch.

Solid V7 and two stars on my three star scale. It felt really good to send it!

Clouds, cold, and a little snow are expected during the next couple days. Maybe I'll get a few more pages finished while waiting for Spring to return.

The International Climbers' Festival 2012

This year's ICF flyer.

The festival is going to be held from July 11-15th this year, and it's time to mark your calendar. Royal Robbins will be the keynote speaker, sharing reflections of early climbing in the Tetons and Wind River Range. It's always a lot of fun, and this year you'll be able to get some bouldering beta or come out for a tour if you'd like.

Last night, I had a great time at the Elemental Climbing competition. The problems were thought provoking, and exciting. And while catching up with everybody, I learned that Kyle is making a new film about Lander climbing. He's planning to document the entire history of Lander climbing leading up to what's getting done today. You can see how it's developing at Lander Climbing Film.

Enjoying the Work

Busy times. A lot of things are in progress, and a few things have already been done. During the last couple weeks Chris and Jesse have spent some time exploring, cleaning, and climbing on sandstone boulders in the Lander area. Last weekend, I spent Sunday bouldering with Chris on some of the new blocks and projects he's been working on.

We warmed up on a roadside block, and then made our way to one of the projects. The line looks impossible, until you see Chris get close to sending it.


Most boulders were too covered in snow last weekend to top out, but Chris got the first ascent of one new line called "July to January." It's about V8, and as good as a short problem can be. The rock and movement are both great. I climbed the problem from one move in, at about V6, but will need to return to link the crux first move. It's named after the odd temperature shifts we experienced on Sunday, and the abrupt shift in climbing style necessary to finish the top out. The photos didn't turn out as well as the problem did.

Later, Chris worked on another difficult project. This one will be spectacular if it goes!

It was a fun day in a beautiful canyon.


This weekend, I spent a couple hours climbing twenty problems at the Dolomite Band from V1-V3. I was checking out difficulty and star ratings for the new guide. Top outs were covered in snow so I downclimbed all the problems too. It ended up being an incredible workout, and my abs and upper back are more sore than I anticipated.

Adobe InDesign is starting to make sense, and pages are getting done. Here is a sample page from the Dolomite Band.

Ashley completed the B1 traverse line seen above last Saturday, but I haven't finished it yet. If I can't do it next session, I might have to raise the grade to V8.

Developing sandstone boulders and writing a guidebook both require some work, but I enjoy them whenever I can find the time. Fun projects are a great thing to have.